THE POSITIVE SCHOOLS

PROGRAMME

Teacher-centred social and emotional learning

TM

BRINGING SCIENCE TO LIFE

INTRODUCTION

The Positive Schools Programme (PSP) has been developed with the specific aim of improving and

maintaining the psychological health, wellbeing and resilience of teachers. Resilient teachers perform

better under pressure, have better cognitive function (concentration, memory, decision making,

innovation, curiosity and creativity), have a greater tolerance of uncertainty, experience better physical

health and are more effective at positively influencing and motivating students.

Our psychological health exerts a powerful influence on our physical health, relationships, work

performance and quality of life. Over the past few years the level of work-related stress, burnout and

work absence amongst teachers has increased. Teacher wellbeing has significant implications for

the individual teacher, their colleagues, their students and the school more broadly. Therefore it is

important that teachers are equipped with the knowledge and tools to manage periods of stress and

pressure.

Teacher morale directly correlates with student achievement; the

higher the teacher morale, the greater the student achievement.

(Raines, 2011)

Once teachers have applied the knowledge and tools for themselves they are then supported to

translate and share the cognitive, behavioural and social skills that are known to generate and protect

good psychological health with their students. Teachers are ideally placed, with their professional

expertise and their intuitive understanding of what helps children learn, to translate the social and

emotional learning into the classroom as well as the wider curriculum and culture.

Grounded in theory and empirical evidence, the PSP delivers transformative learning by building

several core protective psychological competencies. These include emotional literacy, self and social

awareness and emotional regulation.

The PSP is informed by experts in psychology, neuroscience and the medical sciences. Positive has

worked extensively with leading universities, schools and charities, as well as both corporate and

public organisations internationally across multiple sectors, including healthcare, law, accountancy,

finance and pharmaceuticals.

The fact that it starts with the teachers practising the elements themselves is crucial – put yourself first.

“ ““ ”

(Sammy Davies, Portsmouth High School)

TEACHER WELLBEING STUDENT SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

In the UK, the incidence of psychological distress – especially anxiety and depression – in young people has increased. The moodstate and emotions of students impact on every aspect of their lives. If students develop poor psychological health it has a significant impact on their learning, relationships, behaviour, and overall performance at school. Research shows that poor psychological health in childhood and adolescence strongly correlates with mental health problems in adulthood.

Social and emotional development is the common element among schools that report an increase in academic success, improved quality of relationships between teachers and students, and a decrease in problem behaviour.

(Durlak et al, 2011)

Student development is strongly influenced by those within their ecological system, such as their parents, peers and teachers. The PSP is designed to embed new skills, tools and a common language that supports the social and emotional learning of both teachers and students.

Stress is often associated with self-doubt, worry and diminished confidence, all of which threaten to undermine or derail the most capable and competent of teachers. ‘Burnout’, the result of chronic stress, is characterised by depersonalisation, a feeling of detachment, and cynicism, which are associated with diminished empathy and job satisfaction. Like most psychological conditions, burnout is caused by a combination of psychological and environmental factors.

Teacher burnout is one of the most common reasons that effective teachers

leave the profession.

(Roloff & Brown, 2011)

The good news is that robust research on burnout interventions has identified a range of individual and systemic variables that produce significant improvements in the prevalence and severity of stress and burnout.

The PSP is designed to deliver practical knowledge and tools that normalise and reduce the physical and emotional effects of stress and pressure, supporting teachers to be healthier and more successful throughout their career.

Our approach to achieve this is two-stage:

• Stage 1 - Develop teacher wellbeing - support teachers to understand and apply the learning themselves.

• Stage 2 - Application of knowledge and tools - enable teachers to translate the tools into classroom activities for students, supported by app-based technology.

This process of collaboration, design and experimentation reinforces and sustains the teachers’ learning and actively develops social and emotional learning within the student population.

““ ””

THE POSITIVE SCHOOLS PROGRAMME (PSP) PSP MODULES

Knowledge

The complex psychology and neuroscience behind each model and tool is brought to life using imagery, stories, metaphors and data.

Tools

Apply the tools with your peers, exploring the relevance to individual and team growth and development.

Translation

Using Positive’s action framework participants work together to design meaningful ‘behavioural experiments’ with other Positive Teachers, and in collaboration with Positive Action Research Leads to apply the tools for themselves and to incorporate the learning into classroom and school activities.

1

2

Developing Teacher Wellbeing

Teachers Apply the Knowledge and Tools With Their Students

The first stage is to deliver the modular PSP live to a community of teachers. The programme provides teachers with an in-depth understanding of the cognitive and behavioural ‘risk factors’ and ‘protective factors’ that influence our psychological wellbeing, levels of resilience and cognitive flexibility. Each module introduces knowledge and tools that normalise our response to stress and pressure, increase emotional literacy, self and social awareness and emotional regulation.

Once the teachers have understood and applied the tools for themselves and within their peer group, they use the PSP framework to translate the knowledge and tools into the day-to-day life of the school and the classroom.

The following process is applied across all PSP Modules:As educational specialists, teachers are best placed to adapt, adjust and translate the PSP into key messages – a common language and practical skill-set for students to apply throughout the academic year. To support this process, trained teachers can set up and distribute the Positive App to groups of students. The app provides access to tools, the Positive newsfeed and content that informs, supports and sustains the learning process.

Teaching staff can regularly share their own experiences, findings and data with colleagues via the online Positive Teachers Forum to inform best practice and develop an agile responsive approach to establishing psychologically informed environments.

Aided by Positive materials and technology, this process enables teachers to collaborate in the translation and delivery of knowledge and tools into the classroom, building teacher capability, ownership and expertise at each stage of development. The process can be shared, adjusted and improved over time.

Self-awareness and emotional regulation

Managing worry and rumination as well as external interruptions

Building an adaptive, flexible cognitive and behavioural style

Understanding how we relate to and impact on others

FOCUS

Attentional Focus

POSITIVITY

Cognitive Flexibility

CONNECTION

Social Wifi

AWARENESS

Emotional Literacy

STEP 1 - TEACHERS

STEP 2 - STUDENTS

Proximal outcomes

A shared learning of core psychological competencies

Enhanced emotional literacy

Enhanced emotional regulation

Enhanced cognitive flexibility

Greater resilience

A more psychologically informed environment: classroom, school, home

Proximal outcomes

A shared learning of core psychological competencies

Enhanced emotional literacy

Enhanced emotional regulation

Enhanced cognitive flexibility

Greater resilience

A more psychologically informed environment: classroom, school, home

Delivery

Group training for teachers supported by the PSP manual, app and action learning sets

Delivery

Teachers deliver PSP tools to students

Distal outcomes

Improved teacher health and wellbeing

Improved work performance

Improved student /colleague relationship

Better morale. Collaborative and cooperative social support

Distal outcomes

Improved student health and wellbeing (protective of later student health and wellbeing)

Reduced worry and rumination

Better social connection

Reduced incidence of mood disorder and behavioural problems

Improved teacher and peer relationships

Emotional literacy and regulation can modify a wide range of the brain’s activities including our attentional focus, information processing, learning, memory, decision making, innovation and creativity.

Effective social and emotional learning is proven to deliver a range of positive learning outcomes. In partnership with leading academics we continue to evaluate the impact of the PSP. Our evaluation is focused on the following learning outcomes for teachers and students.

POTENTIAL PSP LEARNING OUTCOMES

“Psychological wellbeing underpins every aspect of our lives, from our health and relationships to our work and decision-making. It’s great to see the pioneering work being done by Positive to bring the science of wellbeing to life in practical ways.

If you’re looking to boost emotional health and resilience in your organisation, school or team, I would highly recommend Positive Group.”

Dr Mark Williamson

Director of Action for Happiness

“Taking action to improve psychological wellbeing is vitally important and advances in our scientific understanding of the human mind are highlighting practical steps which make a big difference.

I am delighted to see the work being done by Positive to spread practical life skills which can improve psychological wellbeing, build resilience and enable individuals and teams to fulfil their potential.”

Professor Lord Richard Layard

Head of Wellbeing Programme, London School of Economics

“The Girls’ Day School Trust’s educational philosophy has always been about giving our pupils the tools to thrive, not just academically but as a whole person. To us, the value of Positive’s approach lies in its emphasis on improving our knowledge and understanding of how the mind interacts with the emotions, and how this knowledge can be used proactively to help both our pupils and staff stay well, adapt to change and embrace challenge in their work and beyond.

We are delighted with the outcomes we have seen from the programme so far in our schools.”

Cheryl Giovannoni

Chief Executive Officer at GDST

“This is one of the best (if not the best) courses I have attended!”

- Ruth Cole, Blackheath High School

174 teachers from 23 GDST schools and 2 academies have been trained and accredited over the past

22 months. The teachers applied the tools and distributed the app to over 2,800 students (KS1 - KS5) who

have interacted with the Positive App over 51,315 times entering 41,191 data points on Positive tools.

The programme’s knowledge and tools are making/have the potential to make a vital and positive influence on:

Following the programme we asked the teachers to comment on the impact the programme has had on them

and the students since it began.

I would recommend this programme to fellow colleagues.

This programme has helped me change my patterns of thinking and modify my behaviours.

My life as a teacher

My overall wellbeing

My private life

My students’ lives

TEACHER FEEDBACK

74% 46%

Strongly agree Agree Slightly Agree Slightly Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

41%13%26%

A CASE STUDY – THE PSP AND THE GIRLS’ DAY

SCHOOL TRUST (GDST)

Positive has trained and accredited Positive Teachers from 23 schools and 2 academies across the UK from March 2016 to March 2018. The participating teachers were supported to take out selected tools to their students and peers, translating and applying them to best fit their key stage level. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and we are now working with all GDST schools and academies to further incorporate the programme into the curriculum and ethos of all teachers, staff and students across the UK.

What do you perceive the key benefits from this programme to be?

45%

50%

5%

49%

45%

6%15%

47%

38%

49%

8%

43%

I’ve gained an increased awareness of how the brain works. It has helped me to rationalise my emotional responses.

That it is okay to look after myself. In fact, I’ll be a better teacher for doing that.

Combining science of psychology with accessible tools in order to improve emotional literacy and long-term wellbeing.

New skills to build resilience for myself and to share with others.

Remembering that negative thoughts/moments are normal parts of life, it’s how we deal with them that counts.

“ “

“I want to share an experience I had last week with a Y5 girl I teach - L.

L is an interesting character. She comes across as confident and sometimes ‘brash’; she is very mature in her use of social media and is very conscious of her image. On a couple of occasions this year, however, I have seen evidence of her lack of inner confidence when she has become very upset about something someone has said about her or about something she has been accused of saying. Last week L came back from a PE lesson in tears because the girls were saying that L had said something critical when one team lost. L was distraught and kept saying her version of what she had said and what she had meant by it.

As I tried to start the next lesson, L continued crying. I began a discussion with her about where she was on the Emotional Barometer. I suggested a quadrant and she said “No. I’m on the line actually.” I asked her what her Inner Coach would say and she and the rest of the class came up with suggestions. [...]

I just wanted to pass on how great it was to have the language and vocabulary to discuss L’s feelings with her. Having had the recent experience of using the EB really helped too. She is definitely a child who struggles to articulate and regulate her emotions, and having this shared language to discuss our emotions with was a real help in this situation. I often find myself at a loss as to what to say in these situations other than ‘put it behind you and move on’, so I do feel I can be more of a support to them since attending the programme.”

Sarah Shaw, Northampton High School, Year 5 Teacher

“The Positive tools are going very well here at Portsmouth High, I have heard that my pilot group of year 10 girls are discussing it with other teachers and really seeing the ‘positive’ in what they have been told. I have noticed when looking at my data that the percentage of pupils stuck on the left-hand side [of the Emotional Barometer] has also reduced, which correlates with them being taught more about the tools. Today I discussed the Worry Filter with them and one of the girls suddenly said this beautiful quote out loud, ‘Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its troubles, it

empties today of its strengths.’ It was wonderful to hear this and all of the girls took a breath and all completely agreed with the quote. We then did a 5 minute mindfulness session, which they

all loved. I left the lesson feeling like I had made a real difference to these girls. I hope they continue to use the tool over the summer holidays. Thank you again for allowing me to be part of this project. My head teacher is also very keen for us to run a session with parents, so they can learn about the tools and use the tools at home to support the girls. On a personal note, I have been asking my 7 and 5 year old to raise three good things that have happened to them that day and three things they were good at that day (their strengths). They are loving it and have also asked me to say mine. The other day my 7 year old said ‘mummy can we do our good things and strengths’. So not only is it helping in my work life, but also in my personal life.”

Amy Hostler, Portsmouth High School, Sixth Form Teacher

APPLICATION OF THE PSP WITH STUDENTS:

A TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE

The PSP team combines knowledge and skills drawn from a range of relevant disciplines including psychology (cognitive, behavioural, organisational and social psychology), neuroscience, medicine, technology, data analysis, statistics, education and research to deliver a truly innovative and impactful learning experience.

SELECTED MEMBERS OF THE PSP TEAM

Dr Sinead DevineEducational Psychologist

Toby Clyde-Smith

Associate for The Positive Group

We asked each teacher to describe the programme in 3 words - this is what they said...*

*The size of words reflects the number of times they have been used by the participants.

InspiringHelpful

rovokingUseful

EmpoweringMind-blowing

Reassuring

Surprising

CalmingRefreshing

Enriching

Powerful

Clever

ProgressiveFabulous

Challenging

Dr Brian Marien

Doctor of Medicine; Masters in Health Psychology; Cognitive and Behavioural Psychologist

Susanne JacobsSpecialist in Organisational Leadership. Named as one of the ‘Top Thought Leaders in Trust’ for 2015.

Dr Jen JenkinsPhysiologist and Psychologist

Annie Gascoyne

Masters in Organisational Behaviour. Currently conducting a PhD in organisational flexibility

Dr Alice Gee

Clinical Psychologist

John ShanahanEducational and Developmental Psychologist

Thought p

Enlightening

If you have further questions or would like to discuss any part of the programme in more depth, please get in touch.

www.positivegroup.org

T: +44 (0)20 7936 3454E: info@positivegroup.org

BRINGING SCIENCE TO LIFE

Positive GroupRooms 125-130 Temple Chambers3-7 Temple AvenueLondon EC4Y 0HP

GET IN TOUCH

TM

“ [The] App is fantastic! Quick and easy too!

”(Teacher feedback, GDST Pilot 2016)

I’m simply buzzing about kick-starting the research in my school!“

TM

ABOUT POSITIVE Positive is a specialist learning provider working across the corporate, public and educational sectors. Our work is informed by research in psychology, neuroscience and the medical sciences.

We translate the relevant principles of psychology and human behaviour into practical, versatile tools and techniques that enable individuals, teams and organisations to manage pressure and adapt to change and uncertainty. Our work with organisations spans the public and private sectors and includes clients in Europe, Asia and the US. Our educational business includes projects with Oxford University, Reading University, Buckingham University and work with schools across the UK.

For more information go to www.positivegroup.org

TM

BRINGING SCIENCE TO LIFE

”(Olivia Pianet, teacher at Brighton and Hove High School)